SEPTEMBER 16 - Polly Mello. Polly will present a lecture on “ Quilts of the Early Twentieth Century -

 So you think you know the depression era quilts. Come and be amazed at the wonderful quilts from this time. In the early twentieth century, quilts were reborn in a pastel world covering a dust bowl landscape. These are the quilts that transformed quilting in a new century. You will see quilts of the great designers that started this quilt renaissance: Marie Webster, Ruby Mc Kim, Rose Kretsinger and others. These are NOT the feedsack icons such as Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Dresden Plate etc. THESE ARE DESIGNER QUILTS. The best of the early 1900’s. They are beautiful, sometimes stunning, works of art.

OCTOBER 21 and 22, we will have Lori Marquette and Beth Wheeler of Threadography who are known for Altered Photo Artistry. Their newly published book, Next Steps in Photo Altered Artistry, shows many examples of the type of work they do. You can visit their website www.threadography.net to view their information.

After our meeting on Thursday, October 21, they will present a workshop entitled:

3-hour Postcard Adventure: This is a fun class for those who have little or no experience with free-motion stitching. Participants will combine altered-photo and free-motion techniques in a fabric postcard ready to be displayed or shared with someone special.

Then, on Friday, October 22, they will present an all-day workshop entitled: Technology in the Quilt Studio: In this 6-hour workshop students will explore various ways the computer, digital camera, scanner, and inkjet printer can influence and aid quilt design. The computer can be a layout tool to plan block placement and color variations, it can correct and heal less-than-perfect photos, it can be a drawing and painting tool (allowing the user to paint with color, texture, and light)—and it can open a door to a world of artistic possibilities. Using Photoshop Elements software application, we'll see just how far we can push the artistic envelope! A scanner is often used to make electronic copies of vintage photos and ephemera, but did you know you can scan leaves, candies, and other materials placed directly on the scanner bed? Imagine a quilt with scans of your favorite donuts or cookies as quilt blocks! Want to get the most from your camera and printer? They will discuss settings and tricks to get the best prints possible on fabric. It is not necessary to have your own computer in the workshop, but it is helpful. They will have lots of handouts, samples, and examples.

Ephemera is transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters, pamphlets, postcards, posters, prospectuses, stock certificates, and tickets. Decks of personality identification playing cards from the war in Iraq are a recent example.

JANUARY 20 – KAY LETTAU – Kay will present a trunk show titled “ Kay's Quilts. "  It is a showing of the quilts Kay has made over the last 20+ years.  Many of the quilts are samples from classes she has taught locally. Kay loves sharing these quilts with other quiltmakers. Since several members of Fairfax QU have been students in the classes, Kay would love for those members to bring their quilts to show. 

FEBRUARY 17 – LINDA COOPER – Linda will present a trunk show titled My Quilting Life: in Color and 3D. In this trunk show spanning twenty years of quilting, Linda shares ways to personalize your quilts. She lists ideas for making your quilts 3-dimensional and she shows you some of her kinetic quilts as examples. Linda also talks about one of her passions, painted fabric.

MARCH 19 – JO MORTON – Jo will present a trunk show titled Making Something New that Looks Olde. Jo’s love of 19th century quilts led to a study in making new quilts that look olde (doll/crib quilt size). This old look is achieved by a careful selection of fabrics (stripes, plaids, paisleys, geometrics, florals and some charming uglies). Jo will bring lots of examples in an assortment of traditional patterns to show and share. She will also discuss the source of her inspiration for the quilts. Jo says you will get inspired to make small quilts and achieve a great sense of accomplishment.

Jo Morton is a quiltmaker, author, teacher, lecturer, a designer for Andover Fabrics, Inc. of New York, and a student of our ancestral quilt making.

Her use of color and design give her quilts the feeling of being made in the 19th Century, but complement furnishings in the country, traditional and contemporary setting.

Jo presents re-creations of antique quilts, imitating colors and styles of period pieces. Using an antique quilt's color and/or design as a source of inspiration, she creates an interpretation - a quilt that might have existed in the 19th Century. Her quilts are made in a lasting tradition, using new cotton fabrics, cotton batting and cotton quilting thread.

APRIL 21 – JANE HALL – Jane’s lecture is titled: Firm Foundations Updated. The lecture is a survey of design categories ranging from classic patterns through innovative contemporary designs and an overview of where we are now with this old-made-new technique we take for granted. In addition to the three basic techniques we’ve all used for years, there are now several times that number of ways to work on foundations. Clever innovative tweaks make the technique even more versatile, no matter what the design or project. Slides, quilts, and words.

Following the lecture, Jane will present a half-day workshop titled: The Other Foundation Piecing. This workshop gives each piece in the pattern it's own separate foundation which will open up designs you never thought of doing on foundations. Flowers, birds, critters, landscapes, as well as traditional patterns like the eight-pointed star...all are done easily using freezer paper templates. Draw the design, label each piece (vital step, coding them for placement), cut the pieces apart, press them to the wrong side of your selected fabrics, and then simply reassemble the paper design, with fabric now attached. The small fabric pieces won't stretch out of shape, all points will match precisely, and your piece will be exactly the size you want. As an added bonus, this technique is easily done by hand as well as by machine.

On Friday , April 22 - Jane will present a full-day workshop titled: Firm Foundations – This lecture provides an overview of this old-made-new technique being so widely used today. This is not a product class, but rather a process one where you will learn several different techniques to introduce you to all the ways you can work on foundations.

Beginning with the simplest technique, work on a series of exercises using several foundations, formats, marking, and piecing techniques to explore the foundation method thoroughly. In addition to the basic three ways to work, we’ll discuss some of the really new and different ideas from The Experts’ Guide to Foundation Piecing. You won’t go home with a finished sample, but you’ll have a batch of blocks, each made using a different foundation technique, and the knowledge to know which one to choose for your next project.

MAY 19 – Julia E. Pfaff - Julia E. Pfaff is a 2000-2001 recipient of an Individual Artist’s Fellowship from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Following in a family tradition, Julia began quiltmaking at the age of ten. With an undergraduate degree in Art History from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Fine Art degree from Virginia Commonwealth University she divides her time between being an educator and studio artist. For over twenty-five years she worked as an archaeological technical artist in Greece, Egypt and Jordan. Her quilted constructions have been exhibited at the American Craft Museum in New York, the Textile Museum in Washington DC, and at several locations in Canada and Japan.

She currently is teaching in an adjunct capacity for the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. Here, she teaches Textile Manufacturing for the Fashion Industry and Historic and Ethnic Textiles for the department of Fashion Design and Merchandizing and Fabric Design for the Crafts/Material Studies Department. She also teaches Quilting and Surface Design as part of VCU’s off campus graduate art program.

Julia’s work has been included in several books and publications notable of which are The Art Quilt, Quilts: A Living Tradition, both by Robert Shaw, 500 Art Quilts, 2010, Quilt National 1995, Exhibition Catalogue, and Fiberarts Design Book Five. Most recently her work has been selected to be part of AQATS 2006 (ArtQuilts At the Sedgwick) ( Sedgwick Cultural Center in Philadelphia, PA), Quilt Visions 2006, and Fiberarts International 2010. Both her art quilts and graphic work are featured in numerous collections including that of The Valentine Museum in Richmond, VA, The Virginia Quilt Museum in Harrisonburg VA, Media General Corporate Head offices, Virginia Commonwealth University, Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond VA, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr PA, Medical College of Virginia, and The University of Toronto, Canada.

Julia’s lecture is titled Making it Your Own -

•Bedouin cross stitch embroidery
•Copper plate etching
•Japanese Shibori
•Embroidery from the West Bengal region of India

How can you use these varied techniques and still have your work seem like your own? Quilter and artist Julia E. Pfaff will outline how her work has grown to a sophisticated art form incorporating traditions from quilting, western art, and ethnic textile production. Process not only informs, but is an integral part of the development of Pfaff’s work.

This lecture and trunk show focuses Julia's most recent work which as well as a selection of older work that illustrates the growth and changes in her quilting. She will lend insights into her creative process and discuss how can we edit better and have the confidence to express your own ideas and how to let your inner artist grow and mature. After over twenty years exhibiting, teaching, and lecturing in the art quilt world she will share her insights into what makes good art and why not all art quilts fit her criteria.

After the lecture, Julia will hold a half-day workshop titled: Drawing with Your Sewing Machine - The simplest piece of fabric can be turned into beautiful and unique art through the addition of quilted lines. This fast-paced workshop introduces the various ways you can use your sewing machine to draw on fabric. Both free motion and conventional quilting methods will be explored. Participants will produce several samples during the class suitable for use as pillow tops. Methods of joining machine quilted blocks will also be demonstrated.

On Friday, May 20 – Julia will hold a half-day workshop titled: Contemporary Mosaic (or Crazy) Piecing - This fast moving fun class explores a spontaneous approach to a traditional quilting favorite with an emphasis on contemporary design. Participants will learn a new way to piece quilt blocks together and ways to create unique arrangements of blocks. Using rotary cutting and machine piecing they will create pillow tops or start a quilt top. A great way to use up scraps from other projects. Pieces will not be quilted during the class, but quilting options will be discussed.